Major Mayhem (Sure Shot HD & PC)

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Major Mayhem was made in 2011 by Rocket Jump for Mobile devices. In 2013 the game was ported to PC and in 2016 to the Sure Shot HD. On both latter systems it can be obtained free of charge. The PC version offers lots of micro transactions. For the PC version I used a PC light gun acting as a mouse input device and I hid the mouse cursor by changing it for a completely transparent one.

In the game's story the player takes the role of Major Mayhem. The president of the world tells him to go into a battle against the so called Dogs of War, and reveals as a side note that Major Mayhem's girlfriend was captured by them. In the last chapter of levels the president turns out to be the evil leader of the antagonists. The president's motive was Major Mayhem's girlfriend.

In the game the player shoots enemies from cover, or while running on the scrolling screen. Red projectiles may hit the player which causes the Major to lose a piece of clothing. Getting hit while being topless will cause the player to die. Then the short level can be restarted from the beginning, or for 100 coins of the in game currency a continue can be bought. Rescuing hostages will replenish lost clothing, grant coins or power ups. Between levels and during the pause screen one of twenty different weapons can be selected as soon as it was unlocked and bought. Furthermore there is a shop for alternative clothing, which solely serves an esthetic purpose.

The game consists of 45 levels, grouped into three chapters. The first chapter is jungle themed. The second one takes place in a city. The last chapter takes the player into a desert.

The PC version shows available power ups on screen, whereas the Sure Shot HD version has no such inventory and triggers the power ups upon collection. The graphics of the PC version are slightly better. Objects in the foreground have a fuzzy transition to the background in the Sure Shot HD version, whereas the PC version looks smoother. Furthermore the behavior of some weapons is different amongst the ports. In the PC version the starting gun has a latency and a realistic bullet spread radius representing the gun's uncertainty. Furthermore it is fully automatic in that version. In the Sure Shot HD version there is no spread, the shots have a considerable shorter latency, and the gun is semi automatic. Aside that there are slight differences in the control scheme. The PC version allows the player to jump using the reload button. The sure Shot HD version on the other hand lets the player shoot the bottom right corner to jump.

Personally I have mixed feelings about this game. I like the art style and the music. However I think the game is hindered by its freemium origin. Because of the “pay to win” nature of the PC release the player has the possibility to remove the challenge from the game by buying unbalanced weapons or continues. When doing the Sure Shot HD port, the weapons should have been rebalanced or partially removed, and the same is valid for the continues. Furthermore the achievements inside the game felt very silly and plastered in to me. In a nut shell Major Mayhem can be a fun game for people with lots of self discipline and patience.